The epic and tumultuous story of the Lions, the Ford family, the city of Detroit—and how all three have come together on the cusp of a new era.
On Nov. 22, 1963, William Clay Ford, the youngest grandson of auto pioneer Henry Ford, made a successful bid to buy the Detroit Lions of the National Football League for the unheard-of sum of $6 million. As Ford and his entourage settled down to a celebratory luncheon, their waitress delivered the news that President John F. Kennedy had been shot dead in Dallas.
"Born under a bad sign" is how Bill Ford’s ownership of the Lions began. After a decade of supremacy, Ford led the team on a half-century slog of mediocrity, the fruit of his mercurial nature and undying loyalty to the wrong people. The Lions Finally Roar is bursting with the colorful ruffians who have made the team one of America’s most beloved sports franchises despite its years of futility. Readers meet the hell-raising quarterback Bobby Layne, who is said to have put a curse on the team after he was traded to Pittsburgh; the rock-solid linebacker and future coach Joe Schmidt; the stars Charlie Sanders, Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson and, most spectacularly, Barry Sanders, the greatest running back in the history of the game, who grew so disgusted with losing and mismanagement that he walked away when he was on the threshold of shattering the NFL’s all-time rushing record.
But the tide is finally turning. The Lions Finally Roar culminates with the team’s recent turnaround and playoff run under the stewardship of Bill Ford’s daughter, Sheila Ford Hamp. Hamp hired savvy general manager Brad Holmes and charismatic coach Dan Campbell—and has stood behind them as they methodically returned the team to the ranks of the league’s elite and, at long last, have made the Lions roar.
Deeply researched and briskly written, The Lions Finally Roar is about much more than football. It explores the American class system, the linked histories of Detroit and its auto and music industries, the city’s changing racial dynamics, the rising power of television, and how all of it played into the NFL’s transformation from a fall sport into the multi-billion dollar, year-round entertainment behemoth that is a cornerstone of American popular culture.
Industry Reviews
“A very readable history about a lot more than the hapless team from Detroit. Because the Lions have long been owned by the Ford family, we learn much about the palace intrigues inside Ford Motor Co., especially those of William Clay Ford. Mr. Morris also gives readers a history of the automobile industry, from its heyday in the 1950s to the beginnings of its struggles in the 1970s. And because it’s Detroit, Mr. Morris delves into the racial politics and white flight that have made the city the symbol of American urban decay. This year, the Lions are considered one of the top three teams going into the new season. ‘The turnaround,’ Mr. Morris writes, ‘given all the history and all the misery that came before it, was beyond an astonishment. It was very nearly a miracle.'"